Thursday, April 7, 2011

A Stranger Hug and Missing Keys

We haven’t been getting a whole lot of sleep around these parts lately. That’s all I will say about that.

As a result, I’ve been feeling a bit sloth like. A bit tired. A bit draggy. Other than going to work on Tuesday evening and a quick meeting on Monday, I haven’t gotten out this week. That makes the days somewhat longish.

So, in order to cure this, I decided to pack up the little and head to Wal-Mart and the Superstore after lunch today. When I got to Wally World, I grabbed myself a large fountain pop from McD’s (no shame in that) and started browsing. I looked through five aisles of Easter candy and did not purchase a single thing (proud?) before heading to the baby section to grab a new crib pad, some breast milk storage bags, a few sippy cups and some other little things that were on my list.

Once I had everything, I headed back up to the front to check out. I paid, took my bags and wandered towards the doors. When I got to the door, I stopped to organize myself before I ventured out to the car.

You know, put the baby’s hat on, zip up my coat, unclip the diaper bag from the stroller, get my car keys ready….

Car keys.

I had everything all set to go but I could not find my car keys anywhere.

I knew I locked the car. I specifically remember pressing the button twice and hearing it honk.

I swore I put them in the side pocket of the diaper bag. Where I always put them. Well, at least mostly always.

I searched both side pockets. No keys.

I searched my coat pockets. No keys.

I searched the wallet section of my diaper bag. No keys.

I was starting to panic.

In the meantime, the greeter, who was a sweet older woman, had wandered over to say hello to my baby.

She was chatting away with her and getting a ton of smiles and giggles in return all while I was frantically searching for my keys.

Soon enough, the lady realized that something was wrong. She asked me if everything was okay.

I told her I couldn’t find my car keys even though I swore I put them in the side pocket. I said that I may need to call my husband to come get us.

She looked at me with a smirk. Put her kind, grandmotherly arm around me, patted my back and said,

“Dear. They are in your hand.”

I looked to my hand – the one I had been using to search for my keys – and sure enough, looped around my middle finger was my key ring.

I let out a sigh and thanked her for putting me out of my misery.

She smile at me again, and said, “Bless your heart, sweetie. Go home. Have a nap.”

And then she hugged me.

Normally, that would seem all kinds of creepy to me. But today it wasn’t. She was just a sweet Grandma type who was drawn to my bundle of cuteness and had a soft spot in her heart for a tired Mama. It put a smile on my face.

And now I’ll know where to look next time I’m at Wal-Mart and can’t find my keys.

I love this post for lots of reasons. I am the girl who would do that, too. HAVE DONE IT. But with my phone. Phone in hand, frantically panicking and looking for said phone. And the other day? Declan left his phone at home. I KNEW HE LEFT IT AT HOME.

But then? I sent him a text to tell him I was bringing his phone into him at lunch.